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Tyrann Mathieu was traveling the media circuit Thursday to talk about events he has coming up — a charity kickball game and his “Heart of a Badger” football camps — when it happened to coincide with discussions with the Cardinals about his contract. Mathieu is due a good chunk of guaranteed money March 14 if he remains on his current deal.

“I think there are different ways you can go about restructuring you contract,” Mathieu said during an appearance on NFL Network. “Some guys like their money up front, some guys put it on the back end. The tough part is when someone asks you to take a pay cut. I don’t think that makes sense for a lot of players.”

Asked directly if the Cards had asked him to take a cut, Mathieu said with a smile, “I don’t know.” He also mentioned his agent was the one talking numbers with the team. Asked if he’d be open to a cut, Mathieu said “that’s a conversation that has to be had. My first conversation about (the contract) was today, this morning. We’ll see where it goes.”

Mathieu added, “I love Arizona, obviously. It is a place I feel I really grew up in. The fans, the city, everyone accepting me with open arms. But like I said, when players get in this situation, these things are completely out of our control. Obviously the team has a decision to make. That decision doesn’t necessarily involve me.”

In the end, Mathieu will be part of the decision. He did add, “I would like to make as much as I can make.”

97 Responses
to “Tyrann Mathieu talks contract”

HB is a good player- but nothing more at this stage of his career. There is no way HB should play for the Cards in 2018.
Keim has a chance to distance himself from a lot of bad contract extensions over the past few years- PP is another bad contract.
The Cards have a new coach and a new QB to come- it’s time for the Cards to move on from the bad moves of the past.
The West is a tougher division now than it was during BA’s time. The Cards have to begin getting the Big moves right- as in FA and high draft choices.
If HB goes elsewhere to the perfect situation, like Campbell did- then maybe he can have a decent year. Conversely, if HB stays – even at a cut in pay- any injury or sub-par performance is going to start putting nails in SK’s body box.

Again, why is the Peterson contract bad? One of the best cornerbacks in the league, and that’s what the going rate is for the top CBs. If he were on the open market, he’d be paid even more. So, as you mention my allegiance to Peterson, I’ll ask, other than the illogically strong level of whatever it is you have for Peterson, upon what do you base your comment?

So far, Peterson has been worth his contract and more. There is no legitimate rationalization behind the argument that his contract is undeserved.

HB’s contract was structured so the front office had an out if injuries became a real concern, they deliberately avoided making themselves hostages to fortune…. we will before the end of next week whether they take that out.

Something will be happening with Veldeer and/or Iupati, I am almost certain about that

PP is getting what top corners are getting, and he IS one of the best corners in the league…his numbers support that. Its not an opinion.. it’s a fact. To say that his contract was bad doesn’t make any sense. He has his flaws but you cannot call it a bad contract. With the cardinals moving to most likely a zone defense, I’m not sure paying him all that money makes sense but he is worth what he is getting paid. The same can’t be said about HB. It’s obvious that his body is breaking down on him and to give him that contract was absurd. There is a chance that maybe he turns the corner and stays healthy, but with that contract, I’m not taking that gamble if I’m Keim.

This team is in pretty bad shape with many many many holes and not enough cap space to fix them all. HB and his health is something this team doesn’t have the luxury of guessing. Move on.

Tyranny has bulked up to physically handle the grind of playing but in doing so has lost some of his quickness. His instincts are still good but he always seemed to be a step late to make plays last season, no longer an impact player. Time to move on for HB.

Signing him to that monster contract while the dude was literally JUST coming off a horrible injury was a totally unforced error. This isn’t a hindsight thing, it looked very risky then and it just looks flat out dumb now.

It ironically cost us from keeping HB on the team. It never should have come to this. Front office screwed up very badly on this one, this stuation was easily avoidable had things been handled better

I also think HB airing this out in public is poor form. Its obvious he’s going, but he should consider the fact that pay is based on performance and he just hasn’t earned that kind of money. He should take a pay cut so long as it is reasonable, particularly considering the belief this team and the city has put in him over the years

I’ll miss HoneyBadger, respect of what he has gone through, but SK is doing the right thing. I’ll also miss JVeldheer, good person and went to a fine college.

Cards may release Badger, AP, Veldheer and Iupati. That could clear around $20mil to add to their existing which would give $40 mil of Cap Space.
That doesn’t mean they will land Counsins, Keenum or Bridgewater due to MN, Jets and Broncos shopping in the same isle with a fatter checkbook, but a J. McCown/Bradford and go All in on a 1st Round QB is Maybe the Only Way to go.

I sure don’t want to see Tyrann go someplace else! I know that he hasn’t been the same guy we all feel in love with his rookie season; no thanks, to his injuries! Tyrann is a true leader. I think that there is a lot of great football left in him and when he’s on fire, the WHOLE team responds! Please say it ain’t so that the Cards can’t or won’t work out a deal to KEEP Tyrann Mathieu!!! We need him.

Budda Baker is going to be HB 2.0. I’ll miss him but sometimes you have to say goodbye. He’s nowhere close to that 2015 form and he’ll most likely never be there again. I hate to say it but let him go to another team who will over pay HB and wait till he gets injured again.

He actually has a team friendly contract. If he wasn’t performing , the team could release him and save 10 million in cap space.

That is what you want out of your big contracts. If you perform, you get 14.9 million, but if you don’t , I can get out of it.

This is the issue with TM.
He will count 14.1 million but hasn’t performed like a 14.1 million dollar player and if you pay him his bonus, a release or trade gives you no cap relief. In fact it cost you.

While 5 million is not a large amount to save vs the player, it is more about 2019 and that bonus he is due to get.

Again, I will ask the question, where does he play? He is not a CB. Branch and then Baker played SS. He is listed as a FS, but on passing downs came down in the slot of LOS. while Bethea played the FS.
When comparing him to Bethea, TM had 7 passes defensed and 2 picks, while Bethea 9 PDs and 5 picks in 6 starts.

One more thing, Bethea is due a tad under 5 million. Can you pay him that kind of money if you keep Badger?

There is a lot that goes in to this and frankly, we don’t even know what Wilks plans are for the defense. One could speculate, since they want to cut his pay, that Wilks has the same questions I do.

Although I would love to know what the Cardinals plan is, I am glad the Cardinals don’t have any leakers. No sources inside the Cardinals organization who say stuff off the record. Hoping for some nice surprises when things are officially announced.

Darren, PP is another example of a high priced free agent with injury history the scouting department disregarded and Keim signed to an undeserved contract. We should cut him and give his money to Sherman. Assuming DWash is not lifting weights do you think he could be a viable #2 corner?

Also, for the love of God, how do you wait until March 8th to start this conversation? You would think could of happened months ago and if he does not agree to it, shop him around!

“Mathieu told NFL.com that he and his agent spoke with the Cardinals on Thursday and the team asked him to take a pay cut. It was the first time the two sides spoke this offseason, coming more than a week after general manager Steve Keim was first publicly vague about Mathieu’s future with the team. The Cardinals have until March 14 to pick up an option in Mathieu’s contract that guarantees him $19 million over the next two seasons.”

I wonder where he will end up? It makes me sad to see him go. I’ll never forget the forced fumble right before the endzone in his first game. That was one of the most incredible plays I have ever seen. His talent is undeniable and I believe he will be sorely missed. As I said before, it did not have to be this way. We were all scratching our heads when he got this contract while injured and so, as others have said, this seems like it was completely avoidable. One of many mistakes by the front office.

I know free agency has not started and we as fans can get dramatic, but it is hard to watch other teams make moves to go get their guys while the Cardinals do absolutely nothing. Especially at CB, where the Rams keep getting richer. Looks like Trumaine Johnson will be available, but can the Cardinals even make a play for a corner of that ability?

I think I am just extra depressed because I am watching my two favorite teams, the Suns and the Cardinals, get run into the ground by inept management. Despite all this, I will remain optimistic, but I just have to see some real action from this team come March 14th.

The Rams just signed CB Sam Shields as well as trading for Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib. A quick check tells us that the Rams now have Peters, Talib and Shields as CBs 1,2,3. While as of right now the Cardinals have Patrick Peterson, Lou Young and Brandon Williams.

Meanwhile the Cardinals wait until 6 days before March 14th to ask Tyrann Mathieu to take a significant paycut. That leaves precariously little time to negotiate and likely a sour taste in TM’s and his agents’ mouths—which could mean—no last second negotiation—and thus Mathieu will not be given his March 14th roster bonus.

If the Cardinals release Mathieu, they will receive zero in return (while the Chiefs and Broncos at least get draft picks for Peters and Talib). Classic. Moreover, releasing Mathieu does not create additional cap space until June 1st—which does not help the Cardinals one iota in free agency when all they have is $20M going in and zero QBs on the roster. Obviously, the Cardinals are going to have to create more cap room with a variety of other moves.

The PR hit the Cardinals could potentially incur here if Mathieu goes and shines for another team (a la Calais Campbell) is regrettable. Mathieu should be super motivated to prove that he was worth every penny of what the Cardinals signed him for.

In my opinion, Mathieu was dispirited last year and was capable of playing much better than he did. He, like Patrick Peterson, was coddled and enabled to play below high standards and expectations.

Put Mathieu this year with a coaching staff who holds their players to higher standards and he is going to thrive.

The irony is that Steve Wilks, Al Holcomb and David Merritt are going to demand such standards and create quite a buzz. Unfortunately, it looks they may not have the chance to do so with the Honey Badger, because of the nature of the 2nd contract Steve Keim authored following the 2015 season….at a time when Mathieu still had another year left on his rookie contract.

Well, why is HB going to take a pay-cut here if he knows he can do better somewhere else? Why would any of us do that?

Just so he can stay with the Cardinals?? I doubt it.

Wait….I doubt it? What am I saying? How ’bout hell no!!!

And I’m not saying I blame him. He has a contract that pays him a certain amount on / by a certain date. IF he can do better somewhere else, then why wouldn’t he?

He’s said, point blank, he doesn’t like how being asked to have money taken out of his pocket feels and he believes there were other ways his contract could have been re-structured but that never happened.

Sound to anyone like this is going well?

Sounds to me like he is on his way out.

Oh, and look at that, the Rams just made another trade for another CB.

The Rams are a team going in one direction. We are going in another.

Then again, we DID re-sign our long snapper, so….what do I have to complain about? I’m just being impatient, right?

I wonder how patient and content people will feel when they see the headline that Mathieu has been released.

Let him go to another team and let THEM over-pay him? Well, maybe if WE hadn’t over-paid him in the first place, that wouldn’t be necessary.

In other words, maybe WE shouldn’t have put ourselves on the hook with a deal like the current contract in the first place.

Wait until he gets injured again? Really? I’m sorry, but wasn’t the injury thing already a concern when WE gave him his current contract?? So, THAT’S OK but when somebody else does it, it will be a mistake, right?

And BTW, look who is apparently going to need DB’s this off-season – Seattle.

“It is not personal it is business” HB should get whatever money he can for as long as he can…that said he is not worth what we agreed to pay him. I think at the end of the day he will take the pay cut unless he can get more some some other place. I am mad at Keim for the contract in the first place, but that is just spilt milk at this point.

I think he could return to his 2015 form under Wilks. I think it would be risky but a good idea to keep him. I believe in the Badger and I want him in the team in 2018!
And I think his contract was good. But exactly this is the time when SK has to decide what to do. If he would have an AllPro season again in 2017, noone would talk about trading or releasing him.

New England Patriots have done fairly well over the past 10-15 years. having Belichick and Brady together and on the same page has a lot to do with it.

Having said that, New England has also been savvy in terms of the draft. They seem to always trade DOWN in the draft.

Lots of things will happen in FA, which will affect the draft. In the back of my mind, Allen will be available at 15th. If that is the case, take Allen at 15. If by chance Allen is already taken, then trade down to a lower 1st round and pick up an additional 3rd or possibly an additional 2nd. Draft Lauletta in the 2nd with your additional draft selection.

Lets face it, the Cards have numerous needs come draft day (O-line, WR, TE, QB, DL, ILB, CB, and depth at key positions). One of the issues facing the Cards is also their over-all lack of the number of draft selections.

As per Tyrann Mathieu, he is flat out a feel good story. Love to see him finish his career as a Cardinal and be an influence on and off the field.

I’m sure Tyrann knows his level of play isn’t what it used to be, and he probably thinks he can ascend to that level again. However, football is a brutal sport, where the pounding to the body is greater than the spirit of the mind. He will need to re-negotiate his contract, if not, he will be released and paid a significantly smaller sum than staying with the Cards

I knew the Cards were sliding down a slippery slope,when the last couple of years, all the focus was centered on the very most position, punter.

I got it, Butler was not a good punter. In the meantime, we did not procure a QB for the future. We did not obtain CB2. We did not fix the O-line. We did not get younger / more athletic. We did not address depth.

We did however, focus so much of our attention on the punter, and then the field goal kicker. To me, this gives the taste that management is unofficially retired.

If HB signs with the Cards for market value that will be a paycut. If they release him and he signs with another team he still only gets market value. Darren, do you know if the Cards will pay him something if they cut him AND he gets market value from another team?

Darren,
A suggestion for when times are slow (definitely not now)
Can you go back to major personnel moves such as HC hiring/firing, GM moves, player moves, player signings and review the comments from the group at that time. Have you archived the comments or have they gone to electronic heaven?
Thanks

All the comments remained anchored to whatever blog post they were made upon.

Go to this page http://blog.azcardinals.com/author/darrenurban/ and to the right is a way to search posts or go to specific months if you want to try and look something up. I don’t think that’s anything I will be doing, but knock yourself out.

As much I dislike the Rams, I have to give them an “A” for their “aggressiveness”….. They got themselves a quality QB, CB, LB…. They are going to be the team to beat in the NFC West and maybe the entire NFC this season…..

Meanwhile Keim, so far has shown nothing but BS…. Where is the “Agressiveness” he was talking about earlier….. We’re still waiting….!!!!!!!!!!!

Did anyone play as hoped last season besides Larry Fitzgerald? The truth of the matter is that nobody was without criticism and most of the time the team played without passion or enthusiasm…even the healthy guys. So, all the talk about Ty, not being the player he once was, could be said about anyone. Tyrann Mathieu is still one of the best backs in the league, a hard worker on and off the field and an excellent locker room guy and mentor for new players. Yes, Budda Baker seems like a bright new talent but there is nothing to guarantee he won’t fall victim to the same injuries as the original Honey Badger and why put ourselves back in a corner? Coach Wilks has stated that he was thrilled and excited to have TM as a member of this defense, and who’s to say that with a new defensively minded coaching staff, Ty won’t find that ole tenacious badger?It would seem that the way teams are loading up defenses we are going to need every weapon we can get if there is a sliver of hope for being competitive. The Rams are but one team who are blowing the doors off building their roster and not sleeping while being aggressive..
I see where the Browns also just traded for Tyrod Talor, which with the 1 and 4 spot, the Landry acquisition with Todd Haley as OC could very well make them a real contender. Who would have thought?
Additionally, Tyrann Mathieu has done a lot in our local community as well as his own, with kids, and many youngsters look up to him as a hero. Cutting the Badger just doesn’t seem like a fan friendly thing to do when considering all the intangibles and leadership that the team is going to need making the transition to a new system.
I REALLY don’t want to sacrifice our assets to salvage a problem of our own making.

Well, folks, even the hapless Browns – the CLEVELAND BROWNS – are now getting in on the trades. Even the hapless Browns are not waiting for FA or the draft to start addressing their needs. Even the hapless Browns are engaging in the kind of aggressiveness that our F/O talks about but has not shown one ounce of since the day they made the trade for Chandler Jones.

And that was…..what, two years ago now? Shoot, in the NFL, it might as well be 10 years.

Oh, but we HAVE made some moves, right? I mean, we re-signed our long snapper and we asked one of our most dynamic players to take a pay cut. Which will almost certainly lead to his being somewhere else in 2018.

Ah, aggressiveness in action, right?

Let’s face it, folks – free agency HAS begun. It’s been going on for the last two weeks now. And the Cardinals have been NOWHERE to be found.

Oh, BTW, all the Tyrod Taylor people can forget about him. He’s now a Cleveland Brown. And the point here is not that Tyrod Taylor should have been our next QB. The point is that even THE most hapless / hopeless team in the NFL is making moves to address their needs at QB while we are doing nothing but talking about the need to have not only a Plan A but also plans B,C, and D.

“Some guys like their money up front, some guys put it on the back end. The tough part is when someone asks you to take a pay cut. I don’t think that makes sense for a lot of players.”

Asked directly if the Cards had asked him to take a cut, Mathieu said with a smile, “I don’t know… That’s a conversation that has to be had.”

“I would like to make as much as I can make.”

Honey Badger has a good head on his shoulders. I’d love to see him play on Coach Wilks’ defense. This season has me excited and we all talked about how soft BA was with players at times, as mitchaz pointed out, with accountability and being pushed What Could Tyrann do for the Cardinals?

I want to find out and as HB stated in the quotes I quoted, there are lots of ways to restructure a contract. And I love that he acknowledged the brutal facts while remaining optomistic…

“That’s a conversation that has to be had.” Perhaps as some here are wondering, he’s wondering what his role will be.

PERSONALLY, I just hope it comes with a restructure AND HB in Cardinals Red.

PS. Thinking on it for a day or so, no to Sherman. I think the Browns should make a play for him.

The Honey Badger was a great draft selection and even a better feel good story. I think all Cardinal Fans would take that draft selection over.

We blew it with when we offered the contract extension and the structure. I agree with others in that we cannot have him on the roster at this price plus I 100% agree with others that we should have had discussions with him right after the season ended and looked to others about trading him to Seattle for Sherman or Buffalo for Taylor or Dallas for Dez or Miami for Landry. Amazing to me to see how little Miami accepted for Landry, but at least they received something.
Shernan talks a lot but he is a warrior and was already playing injured when he was injured worse. Lot of guys would not have been on the field playing.
Wish we would have went after Landry, but I like Robinson out of Jacksonville a lot so will be happy if we sign Robinson.
If Honey Badger is just released will we earn a compensatory draft pick next year if he signs with another team?
I mentioned several times last year about the badgers slow play, but we also played him too much last year after his injury. I believe he had the most snaps in the NFL last year or at least top 3. Too many snaps.
I hope we can bring Honey Badger back at half the price and play him less snaps.
Iupati has to go and Veldheer I would bring back and play him on the left side if he is healthy.

Scott H. the Rams are making good moves in their secondary but they have lost talent at DL and LB. 177 million sounds like a lot of money but when you are trying to sign 53 guys it goes really fast. I will be patient, but like you and others I know we need to make a lot of moves to have a playoff caliber team next year.

If we can just solve our oline next year, C, 1 Guard, and resign Boone, man I think we can run all over people with Johnson and AP which will make our QB and defense look better. If I am GM with our salary cap situation the way it is my priority is fix oline, find QB and QB of future, and 2nd CB.

It would be for his own good that HB leaves…the cardinals are the oldest and one of the worst owned organization now for decades. Only way there can be any success moving on is a new ownership and management. Absolutely no spine whatsoever in this management – letting you best players leave and doing absolutely nothing in free agency…NOTHING!

Players like P2 and HB deserve better and deserve to win rings with teams that are contenders. The Cardinals have a long drought ahead of having a winning season, let alone winning a SB. Let players with large contracts walk and rebuild with a large amount of cash reserve like the 49ers have done already.

Rams after years of mediocrity are finally looks like champions in this division while the 49ers are slowly and steadily look like a force to reckon with it. Hawks know they need to rebuild and they aint afraid to take logical steps but are still looking like a team that can make the playoffs…..and then we have the Cardinals, less said is the better. Feel sorry for a player like Fitz, but he dug is own end career after deciding to stay with this team – he aint winning a ring!

HB and P2 need to secure their future and hopefully they can win a ring with a contender. Will cherish their time with the Cardinals – we had our moments in ’14/’15/’16 and its gone now.

Darren, you answered my question. HB only gets whatever a new team gives him. So if we offer market value he has no financial incentive to leave. However, with Budda I don’t see HB fitting anymore. Call me a Homer but with teams with cap room signing players left and right, and a couple QB’s finding homes, I like where we are better today then last week. Money is off the table and the players we wanted are still there. Assuming I’ve been reading the tea leaves properly.

LOL, nobody “deserves” a ring. I always gotta laugh when those comments come up. Tons of great players leave the NFL without a ring. Its not an injustice, its just how it goes. Rooting for our best players to leave our team is not something a true fan would do (in my opinion).

OK sooo I say lets get HB back!
He did better than Peterson this year anyways and YES I would even say it TYRAN MATHIEU is better than Peterson look at the stats of the both this year.

They were both healthy all year and Mathieu got 78 tackles and 2 ints and
Peterson got 34 tackles and 1 int?? To me looks like Mathieu is back and we should sign him back!! It would be stupid for us not to I mean we had faith in him from what he came from he should be a Cardinals franchise!Also back to Peterson he is a CB and Mathieu has more ints than him????

Also yes yes I know 2015 was Mathiue`s best year with 5 ints and 89 tackles also still better than Peterson that year he had 35 tackles and 2 ints. Also Budda Baker seems to also be a sweet player for arizona he had 74 tackles not bad but he had no ints but hes still good.

And yes i do know that CB do not get as many tackles as a S but still Richard Sherman was doing better than Peterson

Im gonna compair Mathieu to Troy Polamalu because I could not think of another good safty off the top of my head…. HAHA.. Ok soo in 2013 Troy played 16 games games he had 69 tackles and 2 ints and the year Mathieu playes all 16 games aka this past season 2017 Mathieu got 78 tackles and 2 ints. Close to the same but also i will give it to Polamalu he was older and not one of his best seasons, but we gotta give Mathieu a nice pay check and keep him in AZ!!!

If the cards are looking into freeing up cap room this year, I am thinking there is two other ways to free up money.

1. Redo Fitz’s contract. He is due to make 11 million in salary If you resign him for 2 years (18-19), and give him a signing bonus of 9 million and a salary of 2 million, he still gets the same this year, but his cap hit is lowered by 4.5 million in 2018.

2. Pat Peterson – He is due 34 million over the next 3 years. If you resigned him to a 4 year 60 million deal, with a 20 million dollar bonus, with a 2018 salary of 4 million, and a 2019 salary of 10 million, you would lower his cap hit for 2018 by 6 million. Pat would get 24 million this year (over the 11 million), which would make him extremely happy.

By redoing these two contracts , you could free up 10+ million in cap room .

For those who want to keep Tyrann Matheiu;
I still believe we should release him, but for those who want him;

How can you lower his cap number but not cut his pay?
He is owed 40 million over the next 4 years. He also has bonus money of 9 million over the next 3 years that will count against the cap.

So, if you extended his contract to 5 years 50 million. You gave him a bonus of 20 million, and gave him a progression salary of ;
2018 – 2 million – cap hit of 9 million, saving 5 million in cap space
2019 – 3 million – cap hit of 10 million, saving 4 million in cap space
2020 – 6 million – cap hit of 13 million, saving 2 million in cap space
2021 – 9 million – cap hit of 11 million, saving 3 million in cap space
2022 – 9 million – 14 million cap hit.

But this new contract would have an out at year 2020 with only 6 million of dead money.
With Badger getting 22 million in 2018, he will be motivated and he gets 31 million over the next 3 years . which he is due 31 million right now over 3 years.

So, a new Badger deal could be done and still free up 5 million in cap room this year.

Why would Cards not have been interested? I thought all available options were being looked at?

Not questioning your info, Darren, but I would be stunned if the Cards did not at least inquire about a proven starter that was up for grabs.

If they really weren’t interested in Taylor, though, then Jackson can probably be ruled out. If Wilks wanted to run the mind of offense that he witnessed in Carolina, Taylor or Jackson were the most likely options. Now, we have to be hoping to trade up (unless we are unfortunate enough to win the Cousins sweepstakes).

Well, I will admit that my supposition about Lamar would be inferential. The Cards are supposedly interested in Cousins, a pocket passer who focuses on high-percentage throws. Taylor is a mobile QB who focuses on high percentage throws. Jackson is a mobile QB who focuses on risky throws (all of this being an over-simplification, but with a reason). We can hardly say the issue with Taylor is the money if the Cards are in the race for Cousins, who is much less affordable than Taylor. And I wouldn’t guess that the Bills not wanting Taylor would be a huge factor, since the Redskins passed on 3 chances to negotiate a long-term contract with Cousins. So, it doesn’t seem like a stretch to say that the issue is probably scheme fit.

Again, inferential analysis isn’t concrete (hence why I wasn’t absolute in my statement), but it doesn’t seem like the least informed prediction that could be made.

I get it, but this doesn’t take into account 1) Taylor’s track record in the NFL, 2) Jackson’s potential ceiling, 3) the demand for Cousins, which makes the odds for him lower, and 4) the Cards’ draft spot at 15, which will make it much harder to get the top QB on their draft list.

thanks for showing how we could keep Tyrann and honor what we promised him a few years ago.

How would you feel about DRC coming back and keeping HB? I would see that as a potential to be a very strong backfiled.

And with Sherman I now wonder, is the 49ers GM reading your posts? If so, you need to work on your being a better double agent and say things like, (sign Sherman for a 3 year 90 million deal) and sink them 🙂

The Buffalo Bills are going to be this years Chiefs and Texans to us in this years draft. They are loaded with picks and can easily jump us or use one of their TWO first round picks in a trade for Foles. Does anyone feel like we are on that old show “punked”?

A little tidbit that seems to have been lost in all the action on Friday, Green Bay also traded a Corner, Demariaus Randall to the Browns for a QB, DESHONE KIZER (and they’re not the team without a QB!). I have to say this came as a shock to me, as one doesn’t readily think of the Packers needing an extra QB with Rogers. But, with Rogers injury last season perhaps they are seeing the widsom in upgrading from their backup Hundley, and, who knows, perhaps behind Rogers Kizer could be developed into a good investment if this QB hungry league?
When I heard about this, it was kinda a “Ah ha” moment with acknowledgement of thinking outside of the box, on the part of the Packers…interesting.
It disturbs me that where the Cards are so “frugal” in spending money on our own players, we seem to have little concern about throwing HUGE money at mediocre QBs like Cousins, who is rumored to be getting a FULLY GUARANTEED CONTRACT for $30M! Seems like the last time we threw around that kind of money at a QB was Kevin Kolb, which turned out with unfortunate results and Keim was also a part of that misadventure! Let’s hope that the rumor is just that, or involves another team not the Cards.

I was one of the few on this board last year who praised the hiring of John Lynch as GM of the Niners.

Since then, we watched him hire Shanahan as head coach, get an “A” on the initial draft grade (time will tell), trade for Jimmy G, and sign Sherman.
Rumors are , they make a run at WR Robinson . Add a passrusher and look out.

DRC

I always liked the guy. I think he can play. Of course, rumors are his heart isn’t in it, but hey, he puts up the stats most years. And he is a whole lot better than Bethel last year.

Got to believe the cards are making a push to get Cousins. I don’t think they get him, but one has to wonder, how does that affect the signing of other players.

If you need to free up cap room for Cousins, you can’t sign others, and no top FA is wanting to be a fall back plan. So, does the chase for Cousins prevent them from getting an olineman, or CB or whoever, since it is now, the deals are being made?

If Cousins uses teams to play against each other, say Jets, cards, vikings, ect , is it the cards who get hurt? The Jets and Vikings have enough money to sign other players and still have money for Cousins bid, the cards do not.

Hope the cards figure out quickly that Cousins is out of their league , and move to plan B.

Here’s the thing about “rebuilding” in the NFL — it can take forever (and you may never get it right) — see, e.g., Cleveland. Or, you can see a team turn around from 4-12 to 11-5 (Rams) with a new coach and a QB going from confused and rattled to calmer and more mature. You can see a team going from 2 wins and headed for a similar fate (SF) suddenly reel off 5 straight wins and finish a reasonably respectable 6-10 once they got a quarterback.

Rebuilding can happen fast in the NFL. The Cardinals didn’t have their starting QB for 9 games last year, didn’t have their offense’s main weapon after the first three quarters of the opener, and an already-weak O-line was decimated with injuries. And they still finished 8-8. With a decent QB and David Johnson returning, they could be in the mix immediately.

With the Cousins rumors looking like either Vikings or Jets, The Dolphins are rumored to trade Tannehill to Broncos for 5th pick.

The Dolphins coach has said he wants to change the culture in Miami, and has traded their best receiver in Landry and are releasing Suh. So getting rid of Tannehill looks like his next move . Not sure who they target at 5.

So, the Broncos could be out for drafting a QB, but the Dolphins are in.

I really don’t understand what is going on in Miami, but it reminds me of Chip Kelly with the Eagles, when he started getting rid of star players.

I see the 9ers are also going after Norwell…arg. Judging from the way John Lynch does business, and considering the fact the Cardinals priority is in putting all our eggs in the QB basket, things aren’t looking too bright for Cards fans even after we do sign a QB without MUCH improvement in the 0-line.
I really don’t think Michael Bidwill has any appreciation for how difficult it is to be a Cards fan for a sustained period of time. He is reportedly thrilled however, with the upgrades to the Club level of the stadium this offseason.

I think SK is still shell-shocked over not resigning CC and then having CC have a great year- ditto Swearinger. Hope SK realizes that CC went to a perfect situation and he wouldn’t have had close to a great season if he was resigned here and had to play in the 3-4.
SK has to get (back?) in the saddle and start doing what GM’s do- and that’s take some chances and try to make things happen.
The Cardinals are being picked to finish last in the West by most people not associated with this Cardinals’ site. Here, we have a lot of people with rose-colored glasses that are looking at a promising season if 10 -15 things go the Cardinals way.
Considering the Cards long shot chances in 2018 coupled with SK’s poor draft record and it’s easy to see why SK is not the guy to make things happen for the Cards anytime soon. Add SK to the bad contracts being doled out by the Cardinals.

So the cards have potentially $115M in cap space next year. Folks are going crazy over Cousins, Keenum, Taylor, Foles, et al. If the Cards are building a solid foundation maybe you pass on one of the average QB’s looking for $30M a year. You take someone like Bradford, Bridgewater, McCarron and invest elsewhere. If all these teams think they are getting their QBOF then there will be no one in the market next year and we can have our pick right? And if Bridgewater or McCarron work out we’d be in amazing shape. Keim gets criticized for not overpaying, but I’ve said a million times, Palmer worked out far better then he hoped and he planned to rebuild these past years not work on a contender. In the last 10 years we’ve been to a Super Bowl and an NFC championship game. About 50/50 on the playoffs. I’ll be patient.

rumors, cousins will sign with the vikings, “sing halleluja” (don`t get me wrong, cousins is for me a average qb or maybe a bit above, but this amount of money is ridiculous)
rumors, norwell will sign with the jags “ohhhhhhhhh s*”

@jtdg, if, IF, the cap space will be used to build a oline, or a secondary, maybe a restructuring would be justificiable, but it would to be have a young guy, who could play for us a long time (trumaine johnson as an example).
at the moment it looks like the cap space would be at 30 mio, that should be enough, to get a bridge qb (i really hoped for foles, but i would never pay a first round pick, two second rounds is the maximum for me), and to help larry f. if not to the well deserved ring, then to some also well deserved stats. and start rebuilding the oline.
so, if a cap space won through restructuring is used to sign a very special guy, yes, but it has to be a really special guy (with a bellyache as a armchair manager).

Notice nobody is thinking Stanton for QB. Did anyone notice how much better he has gotten over the last two years? I know that Bruce Arians was at end of career but he must know more than most of us because although not a Stanton fan, given his previous 3 years (not last 2), I began to understand why Arians was priming him for QB. He made incredible adjustments in throwing angles and accuracy. One thing I noticed about Palmer, he constantly threw high and the Cards had to go up high to grab his passes; did it continually for four years. Anyone notice it also? I personally think SK, as usual, is going to make a horrific mistake by not talking to Stanton; hopefully I am wrong, and new coach is considering Stanton; he certainly has better chance of surviving; Bradford is too small for QB these days. Kurt Warner got away with lack of size with quick release; you all saw what happened with slow release Palmer; got hammered, big time, and I think his wife said enough, we have our $Ms in the bank, let us return to California. Wish him all the best, because the hits he took are going to take its toll the rest of his life, just as did Joe Montana, a walking shadow of his former self.